Storm Linux
This is a box full of surprises. First, the name itself is totally unheard of, then the package is based on Debian, and last, but not the least, it's extremely easy to use and full of great software. Pretty much on the lines of Corel Linux, this distribution has modified Debian such that except the directory structure and (.deb) package compatibility, almost everything has been revamped. You cannot say this package is dependent on Debian.
It includes PartitionMagic 5.0 SE for creating native Linux partitions out of the free space on your Windows partitions, as Storm Linux can't be installed on a DOS or Windows partition. Once into the install, things go smoothly.
The first thing Storm Linux's setup does is to detect your hardware and configure it. Storm Linux detected the SiS 6326 graphics card perfectly and even the GeForce 256, SB Live! and Ensoniq AudioPCI soundcard worked perfectly. The interface for configuring hardware configuration and display properties was the best for any Linux distribution.
This distribution defaults into the custom mode, and you can select what you want from a panel that lets you choose individual packages as well. Installing and uninstalling packages is easy with the Storm package manager.
Once you reboot the machine, you notice the graphical boot manager that not only looks good, but also lets you fall back to text mode and check what's happening under the hood, for troubleshooting.
Storm Linux includes both Gnome and KDE, but no window managers except Enlightenment. KDE has been customised to include links to wizards and special programs such as Storm package manager and Storm Administration system.
Unlike Corel, where collaborating with Windows machines is easy, in Storm Linux, Samba needs to be set up manually. Storm Linux comes with a good amount of software in the base installation itself, even though the software versions are a bit old.
The third party applications CD seems to be compiled in a hurry, for it includes both Applixware Office 4.4.2 demo and StarOffice 5.1 in duplicates, and that too in the Tar.gz format, which isn't exactly the same as .deb format. The CD includes only 269 MB, that also after putting in every package in duplicates on the CD. It also doesn't support Web updates like Debian.
Better applications and standard packages could have certainly made it rank somewhere between Caldera and SuSE.